Hello Dungeon Masters. Today I have a problem, I'm able to run a story well but whenever I need to pick up the story it's just incredibly hard to do an introduction for me. So, I need some advice on how to do it. Btw yes, I take notes during the campaign, I know what they did last time but I don't know how to put it into words without it sounding like a monologue. Should I be doing this introduction in first, second, or third person?
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Monster Fact of the Day: Tarrasque
Tarrasque's have a magical regeneration and are able to reflect spells back at its enemies
Praise Jeff with Your Hole Heart and Soul with the Sign ofDoomJOY to Come!!!!!
I don't really have any good advice for this problem due to my minimal DMing experience, but for me, I either just give as brief a summary as I can, or I don't do a recap at all, depending on how long ago the last session was, how long the session itself was, and how many players I have. And also, if a monologue works, then do that.
I do a quick recap " Our group of valiant adventures accepted the quest to do XYZ, having battled through the town of EFG and the swamps of RST, they retrieved the artifact that led to a clue that the next step is in "Name of next area" ... we left off with the group about to head that way. Short and to the point so we can dive right in to the session.
You can always ask the players to do the recap for you. My players usually have forgotten b/c we play somewhat occasionally, so I do the recap of the key points the party has learned about the current adventure and where they left off. Something like:
"Last session, you met with NPC1 and delivered a letter to them, they told the party about attacks on LOCATION and asked for your help. You agreed after negotiating to be paid AMOUNT gold upon successful completion, then set off for LOCATION. There saw several burned buildings and deep scratch marks, talking to witnesses you decided it was most likely a chimera residing NE of LOCATION. We left off as you gathered supplies including X,Y, Z before heading out to seek the creature's lair."
If my players were better at remembering what they did or we had less time between sessions I would just say:
"And we rejoin the game in LOCATION, as the party was gathering supplies to seek out the lair of the monster attacking the village."
It will be a monologue which is fine just keep it as short as possible and it can be 2nd or 3rd person it doesn't matter. You can ask the players if they have any questions at the end as well or not, usually they will naturally ask questions if they have any at the end.
I tend to do a quick 1 minute or so recap in send person. My players joke about the fact I always start "The story so far goeth thusly..." but to me it feels right and signals nicely that we're starting. There's no real way not to make it a monologue, it is after all you talking by yourself so by definition is a monologue, but I've never had a player complain
I follow a template that was put together by the Angry GM. It works well - the goal is to focus the party in with progressive details until they have zoomed back into where they got to.
Roughly, it's:
1: Shush, time for dnd 2: Overall goal recap, in broad strokes. 3: What they did recently, leading to current goal 4: Current goal, and how it's going 5: Last Session Recap 6: Current situation, describe the scene, sights, smells, etc., and then place them in their start positions. 7: "What would you like to do?"
So this might be like:
"(1) Ok everyone, time for D&D. (2) Your characters are working to free the bloobloo, who are enslaved by the Bleeblee. (3)You have ventured deep into the forest of Wawa, seeking artefacts to help you destroy BBEG and complete your quest. (4) Most recently, you entered the cave of Drippydrip, seeking an ancient entity who is said to know the location of the Sword of Pointyend. You fought through Squeebs and Zulls, and then took refuge in a cave. (5) Last session, you started a campfire and cooked an elephant on a spit, attracting the attentions of the Entity Glumglum, who you sought. The session ended with Glumglums noodly appendage reachign out of the waterfall to take the Elephant, and the Bard Fiddledeedee pursuading it to stop and hear your plea. We rejoin your characters in the cold dark of the cavern, the wan light of the campfire flickering on the jewells encrusting the walls, and the sound of water splashing off the long, thin arm of Gluglum, paused in its taking of the cooked Elephant. The sound of water grows louder as Glumglum's head pushes through, and fixes it's one beady eye on you, Fiddledeedee, and it says in a soft voice that seems to come from all directions at once; "Speak...". What would you like to do?"
It seems to work very well. If there has been a long time between games I'll include a reintroduction step for characters to be remembered, too.
If a recap is a weakness for you, have the players provide the recap (we do that at our table regularly), this also allows you to listen what they took notes on and if they completely missed something you can give a brief reminder. You don't have to drive home that something is an important clue, but you can give hints and it helps make you aware of areas they did not have enough detail and you can find another way to bring that info back to the party.
If a recap is a weakness for you, have the players provide the recap (we do that at our table regularly), this also allows you to listen what they took notes on and if they completely missed something you can give a brief reminder. You don't have to drive home that something is an important clue, but you can give hints and it helps make you aware of areas they did not have enough detail and you can find another way to bring that info back to the party.
Honestly this all makes sense - that said in the context of being a DM, a quick recap of where we are and where we've been is such a basic part of story telling if this is a problem work on it and rectify it. In some ways DM's are above all story tellers, world builders, narrative makers ... this is a pretty low bar recapping where we have been and where we are going. Yes the combat mechanics matter but above all else the players want a story ..... even the ones that say the don't ... they at least want a narrative that sets a framework so the combat can unfold in a reasonable way, This is DM 101
When narrating in 1st person, you are injecting subjectivity whereas 3rd person, you are injecting objectivity. While it is more style than what is right or wrong, for a recap, 3rd person is best imo. A recap can be a simple 2 to 3 sentences: "Last time we met, the group encountered 2 super soldiers on the plane bent on killing them before the party reached their destination. The party was able to defeat them but at the cost of damaging the plane which then diverted to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for an emergency landing. You, as well as the other passengers, have gone through medical checkup as well as questioning by the police. What would you guys like to do now?" A recap doesn't have to be fancy. Simple is fine and allows you and your players to get to the adventure quickly.
If you are set on avoiding doing a monologue then go for a 1st person but that requires a pov from a npc traveling with them. Describe the last scene as he saw perceived it, with his biases.
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Hello Dungeon Masters. Today I have a problem, I'm able to run a story well but whenever I need to pick up the story it's just incredibly hard to do an introduction for me. So, I need some advice on how to do it. Btw yes, I take notes during the campaign, I know what they did last time but I don't know how to put it into words without it sounding like a monologue. Should I be doing this introduction in first, second, or third person?
Monster Fact of the Day: Tarrasque
Tarrasque's have a magical regeneration and are able to reflect spells back at its enemies
Praise Jeff with Your Hole Heart and Soul with the Sign of
DoomJOY to Come!!!!!I don't really have any good advice for this problem due to my minimal DMing experience, but for me, I either just give as brief a summary as I can, or I don't do a recap at all, depending on how long ago the last session was, how long the session itself was, and how many players I have. And also, if a monologue works, then do that.
I do a quick recap " Our group of valiant adventures accepted the quest to do XYZ, having battled through the town of EFG and the swamps of RST, they retrieved the artifact that led to a clue that the next step is in "Name of next area" ... we left off with the group about to head that way. Short and to the point so we can dive right in to the session.
You can always ask the players to do the recap for you. My players usually have forgotten b/c we play somewhat occasionally, so I do the recap of the key points the party has learned about the current adventure and where they left off. Something like:
"Last session, you met with NPC1 and delivered a letter to them, they told the party about attacks on LOCATION and asked for your help. You agreed after negotiating to be paid AMOUNT gold upon successful completion, then set off for LOCATION. There saw several burned buildings and deep scratch marks, talking to witnesses you decided it was most likely a chimera residing NE of LOCATION. We left off as you gathered supplies including X,Y, Z before heading out to seek the creature's lair."
If my players were better at remembering what they did or we had less time between sessions I would just say:
"And we rejoin the game in LOCATION, as the party was gathering supplies to seek out the lair of the monster attacking the village."
It will be a monologue which is fine just keep it as short as possible and it can be 2nd or 3rd person it doesn't matter. You can ask the players if they have any questions at the end as well or not, usually they will naturally ask questions if they have any at the end.
I tend to do a quick 1 minute or so recap in send person. My players joke about the fact I always start "The story so far goeth thusly..." but to me it feels right and signals nicely that we're starting. There's no real way not to make it a monologue, it is after all you talking by yourself so by definition is a monologue, but I've never had a player complain
I follow a template that was put together by the Angry GM. It works well - the goal is to focus the party in with progressive details until they have zoomed back into where they got to.
Roughly, it's:
1: Shush, time for dnd
2: Overall goal recap, in broad strokes.
3: What they did recently, leading to current goal
4: Current goal, and how it's going
5: Last Session Recap
6: Current situation, describe the scene, sights, smells, etc., and then place them in their start positions.
7: "What would you like to do?"
So this might be like:
"(1) Ok everyone, time for D&D. (2) Your characters are working to free the bloobloo, who are enslaved by the Bleeblee. (3)You have ventured deep into the forest of Wawa, seeking artefacts to help you destroy BBEG and complete your quest. (4) Most recently, you entered the cave of Drippydrip, seeking an ancient entity who is said to know the location of the Sword of Pointyend. You fought through Squeebs and Zulls, and then took refuge in a cave. (5) Last session, you started a campfire and cooked an elephant on a spit, attracting the attentions of the Entity Glumglum, who you sought. The session ended with Glumglums noodly appendage reachign out of the waterfall to take the Elephant, and the Bard Fiddledeedee pursuading it to stop and hear your plea. We rejoin your characters in the cold dark of the cavern, the wan light of the campfire flickering on the jewells encrusting the walls, and the sound of water splashing off the long, thin arm of Gluglum, paused in its taking of the cooked Elephant. The sound of water grows louder as Glumglum's head pushes through, and fixes it's one beady eye on you, Fiddledeedee, and it says in a soft voice that seems to come from all directions at once; "Speak...". What would you like to do?"
It seems to work very well. If there has been a long time between games I'll include a reintroduction step for characters to be remembered, too.
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If a recap is a weakness for you, have the players provide the recap (we do that at our table regularly), this also allows you to listen what they took notes on and if they completely missed something you can give a brief reminder. You don't have to drive home that something is an important clue, but you can give hints and it helps make you aware of areas they did not have enough detail and you can find another way to bring that info back to the party.
Honestly this all makes sense - that said in the context of being a DM, a quick recap of where we are and where we've been is such a basic part of story telling if this is a problem work on it and rectify it. In some ways DM's are above all story tellers, world builders, narrative makers ... this is a pretty low bar recapping where we have been and where we are going. Yes the combat mechanics matter but above all else the players want a story ..... even the ones that say the don't ... they at least want a narrative that sets a framework so the combat can unfold in a reasonable way, This is DM 101
When narrating in 1st person, you are injecting subjectivity whereas 3rd person, you are injecting objectivity. While it is more style than what is right or wrong, for a recap, 3rd person is best imo. A recap can be a simple 2 to 3 sentences: "Last time we met, the group encountered 2 super soldiers on the plane bent on killing them before the party reached their destination. The party was able to defeat them but at the cost of damaging the plane which then diverted to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for an emergency landing. You, as well as the other passengers, have gone through medical checkup as well as questioning by the police. What would you guys like to do now?" A recap doesn't have to be fancy. Simple is fine and allows you and your players to get to the adventure quickly.
If you are set on avoiding doing a monologue then go for a 1st person but that requires a pov from a npc traveling with them. Describe the last scene as he saw perceived it, with his biases.